Update, March 3: Photographs of the Local 1008 press conference, along with a similar press conference held by UE Local 208 in St. Albans, VT and a solidarity photo sent by UE Local 1118 in Chicago, are available on the UE Facebook page. Video of the Local 208 press conference can be found on the UE YouTube channel.
Contact: Fernando Ramirez, UE Field Organizer
Tel. 323-572-4668 Email: fernando.ramirez@ueunion.org
Sciolex Corporation, a Virginia company, is contracted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to provide staffing and oversight for clerical work performed at the USCIS California Service Center (CSC) in Laguna Niguel. Since commencing work at the CSC last Summer, Sciolex has increasingly refused to recognize UE Local 1008, which has been the collective bargaining representative of approximately 400 contractor employees at the CSC since 2008.
Sciolex has taken numerous unilateral actions in violation of both its contract with UE 1008 and federal labor law. Such actions include changing employee insurance and paid leave benefits; imposing a fee on employees to charge them for the cost of the company’s payroll and benefits administration; and, most recently, refusing to process grievances and honor the employees CBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. Sciolex has imposed these and other changes without notice to the union and has refused demands by the union to bargain over unilateral changes when they occur.
Sciolex’s treatment of its employees is causing many long-term CSC workers to resign from employment and seek work elsewhere. If this trend continues it will imperil the essential work of the U.S. government. UE Local 1008 members will be holding a press conference Wednesday to demand that Sciolex be removed from its contract with USCIS and be prohibited from future participation on federal contracts.
Press Conference Details:
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Time: 11 am
Location: Chet Holifield Federal Building Laguna Niguel, CA. Corner of Alicia Parkway and Federal Loading Dock (street entrance) across from the soccer field park.